I don’t want to ¨play¨ prayer today

Who would have thought that Haleigh would be 18 years old
when I come back from the mission? That she would be having boy toys and would
be a senior in high school? I never thought that the day would come when most
of us are no longer live in the house but that we are just getting too
old. I wonder sometime what it is going to be like to find my own
eternal companion and then I remember ¨WOOOOOOHHH THERE, BUDDY!!!!! YOU’RE NOT
READY FOR THAT KIND OF COMMITTMENT JUST YET!!!!!¨ I am proud of Haleigh and
Saydi the both of them are toughing it out, holding down the fort back home.

This last week was stake conference in my stake here in
Peru. Elder Uceda on of the 70s came to speak with us. He gave a fantastic
talk. He talked about the importance of really being dedicated to doing the
right thing at the right time. I thought that he was really speaking to the
Peruvian people because sometimes I feel like they just don’t understand the
importance of the gospel. He said something that really made me think. He made
an interesting point. He began by sharing a story of his youth when he would
play with his brothers and sisters. He told us that the game that they used to
love to play was ¨Doctor¨. As he shared the story he laughed and joked about
how his little sister always had the mysterious sickness and that he as the
doctor needed to find the cure. After sharing his story he began to
become very serious and said that other people are playing another of kind of make
believe but with the gospel. He said that some people ¨play¨ the gospel. He
said, today I will ¨play¨ tithing but tomorrow I don’t want to ¨play¨… that
most people see the commandments as a game and less as a serious law of God.
Well today I am not going to ¨play¨ the Sabbath day because I don’t feel like
going to church, or I don’t want to ¨play¨ prayer today because I don’t feel
like praying. He testified that these people will not live up to their divine
potential and it will be much harder for them in the life to come. I know that
what he said is true; if we don’t see the commandments of God as blessings, we
will be unable to comprehend the importance of completing them.

I feel like the world is at an end. Wow it stinks that I
won’t be coming home until 7:06 PM. So my big question is what are we
going to eat? I am sure that I am going to be dying of hunger after having
eaten plane food all day long and all night. If the family wants to go, I am
dying for a big delicious burrito in café Rios, but before we can go however I
need to released as a missionary. Which reminds me where are we going to
release me, in the church or in the house? Who all are going to be there? Do I
have an interview with the stake president? Do I have an interview with the
Bishop? Is my homecoming talk the same week that I come back? Where will I be
sleeping in the house? Is Dad going to have to work the week I come home? Can I
visit mom in the preschool one day? Can I go to CMR during the Spanish classes
of Haleigh and Saydi and speak with the teacher in Spanish embarrassing them in
any way possible? How long will Aubrei be with us? Can I drive the new car?
When will we go to get my new drivers license? Can we go Snowboarding this
winter? Should I show up in my glasses when I come home or in my contacts? Can
Dad and I go and work out together, then afterward shoot hoops? Can I take mom
out on a date so I can tell her about Peru?